Police help replace kids' sweatshirts due to color, number

December 20, 2012 12:00:00 AM PST

by Sergio Quintana

SAN FRANCISCO --

This Christmas season the eighth grade graduating class at St. Peter's School got a special gift from police officers at the Mission Street Station in San Francisco. The police got the students brand new sweatshirts, but as we found out it wasn't the cold weather that prompted the gift.

On the basketball court at St. Peter's School members of the class of 2013 proudly wear their new grey sweaters.

"I love them, they are super warm, since it's winter now, it's amazing," said one student.

These cozy new threads are replacements for the ones they had earlier in the school year.

"The other ones, they were blue and they had just the number13 on the back with our names," said another student.

And in this Mission District neighborhood that number and that color raised some concerns by police because it is associated with a dangerous street gang.

"One of the sergeants at Mission Station saw these students wearing the blue colored sweatshirts, with the number 13 on the back, and realized the neighborhood the school was in, and realized this might be a potential problem," said Officer Gordon Shyy.

For the safety of the kids, the police asked the school to collect the old sweatshirts. Then officers at the Mission Street Police Station collected about $1,600 to help buy 60 new ones.

The nice new gray sweatshirts are courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department, which they handed out last Wednesday. The new ones were even redesigned.

The school's vice principal Sister Marian Rose Power said, "We took the 13 off, put 2013, put the students' names back in it."

The old sweatshirts are now being stored inside the Mission Police Station and plans are to give them away.

The new ones are a bit hit for the St. Peter's School Class of 2013.

"It's their job to look out for not just us, but the city. I feel special because they're just watching out for us also," said Neyelli Rodriguez, a student.